PURIFYING THE VISION: KINSUKOPAMA SUTTA

During Buddha’s time a monk asked another monk how one could well purify his or her vision (darshana visuddhi). When a person discerns arising and passing away of the six sense bases, as they actually are, his or her vision is said to be well purified replied the other monk.

The first monk was not satisfied with this answer and went to another monk and asked him the same question, how one could well purify his or her vision? He responded, my friend, when a person discerns, as it actually is, arising & passing away of the five clinging-aggregates his or her vision is said to be well purified.

The first monk was not satisfied with this answer either and went to yet another monk and requested an answer to his question. This monk’s response was, when a monk discerns, as it actually is, arising & passing away of the four great elements [earth, water, wind, & fire], his or her vision, my friend is said to be well purified.

The first monk was not satisfied with this answer either and went to still another monk and put forward his question to him. This monk replied, my friend, when a person discerns, as it actually is, that whatever is subject arising is all subject to cessation his or her vision is said to be well purified.

Not satisfied with the answers given by these other monks the first monk went to the blessed one, having bowed him on arrival the monk reported his conversation with the other monks and requested tathagatha’s view on this.

The blessed one addressed the monk and said, I will explain this to you with a simile.

The Simile of the Tree (Flame of the Forest)

A man who has never seen a Flame of the Forest[1] tree goes to a person who has seen one and asks him, friend what does a Flame of the Forest tree look like? Then the other man replies, it is black and looks like a burnt stump.

The man is not happy with this answer and goes to another person who has seen a Flame of the Forest tree and asks him what the tree looks like. This man would say, my friend, it looks like a lump of flesh.

Not happy with this answer the man goes to yet another person and asks him, what a Flame of the Forest tree looks like. It is a tree stripped of its bark, my good man, and has burst pods, like an acacia tree, says that man.

The man is still not satisfied an goes to still another man and asks the same question. He replies, it’s a tree that has thick foliage, freind, and gives a dense shade, like a banyan.

All these men have expressed their individual experience for as at the time they saw it that’s what the Flame of the Forest tree was like.

When a Chena[2] that is being prepared for cultivation all the vegetation, trees & plants alike get burnt. A flame of the forest tree that is pruned and burnt with others will look like what the first man saw, a burnt stump. As the time goes by with rains shoots begin to appear and it will look like the way the second man described. Likewise the two other men described how a flame of the forest tree looked when they saw it at different stages of its regrowth after burning; the last man saw the fully grown tree.

"In the same way, monk, however those wise men of integrity were focused when their vision became well purified is the way in which they answered”, said the Buddha, “I will explain this dhamma to you with another simile.”

The Fortress with Six Gates

A king who rules a provincial state has a palace fortified with a rampart & moats. The rampart wall has six gates which are manned by an experienced, efficient & wise gate keeper. This gate keeper is loyal to the king and clearly identifies who is the enemy and who is not and allows only the people who are supportive and harmless to the provincial king to go through. Two swift messengers approach from the North and inquire from the gate keeper, where the ruler of the fortress is. The gate keeper directs the two messengers to the king who sits at the city square where four roads meet. The swift pair of messengers would then deliver the message accurately and precisely as it is to the king & go back by the same route they had come. Another pair of messengers come from the South and delivers the ruler the message accurately as it is & returns via the same route they came from. Likewise messengers who reach the fortress from other directions deliver the message accurately and precisely as it is, and go back by the same route they had come.

The fortress stands for the body. The six gates represents our six senses. The gate keeper who only allows messengers who deliver messages accurately & precisely as they are, stands for Mindfulness. The two swift messengers stands for tranquillity (samatha) and insight (vipassana). The four way junction where the king resides signifies the four great elements the earth-property, the liquid-property, the fire-property, & the wind-property. The ruler or the king is consciousness (vinnana). The message accurate and precisely as it is, stands for emancipation (nirvana). The route by which they had come stands for the noble eightfold path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration." The swift messengers (tranquillity & Insight)report things only ‘as they really are’ which is the message of emancipation.

When we relate this simile to our own life, though we seem to have a City fortified adequately with six gates, our gate keeper is not wise, experienced & efficient. He lets in any one that comes through the gates and wouldn’t mind who brings the message accurately and precisely as it is or not. The messengers that he allows are not swift but slow and are called ignorance (delusion) and craving for existence. They come from all six gates and deliver inaccurate messages which are contrary to the reality as it is. The king (Consciousness) constantly receives false information about self, beings and things which exist when in real terms there aren’t such existences. They report about luxuries such as celebrations, parties, food, cinema, people, and vehicles etc., so called things of pleasure that exist outside the wall. These messengers tempt the king (or consciousness) to come out of the fortification & get caught up in worldly vicissitude & delusion. They make the king to believe things that are seen heard etc. exist out there, i.e. the distorted view of wholesomeness, permanence, satisfactoriness & self (soul). The messengers deliver messages of evil to make the king walk out of the fortress where he will be insecure and prone to harm. This is our life, says Venerable Mankadawala Sudassana Thero. ‘The old kamma is the City fortified with the wall with six gates and the new kamma occur when we move outside the wall.’

To free ourselves from this misery it is eminent that we employ an efficient, experienced and a wise gate keeper who will only allow messengers that deliver messages that are accurate and precisely as they are i.e, tranquillity & Insight, in other words the reality or the truth about the form to the mind.He should be knowledgeable about the true nature of unwholesomeness, impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non self.

The messengers should go back on the same route they come from, i.e, the Noble Eight fold path. In other words, the visual experience should end where it occurs. What is apparent now is that they come from one direction (say through the eye) and go back through another route, e.g. the ear; we believe that what we hear can be seen as well. To ensure that the message that is delivered is accurate and precise as it is we need to be endowed with the Right View (Ditti Sampanna). In order to gain such wisdom we should first seek guidance from a Noble Friend (Kalyanamitta) who can direct us to the right path.

We can gain the Right View or in other words well purify our vision by any of the four ways that was discussed above, by knowing sense bases as they really are and their arising & passing nature, by knowing the four elements as they really are and their arising & passing nature, by knowing the five aggregates as they are and their arising & passing nature and all that arise due to conditions ceases when the conditions cease to exist. In short by knowing things as they really are.

Venerable Sudassana Thero explains this by examining the four elements and their arising & passing nature and he says by comprehending this dhamma in this manner one would know how it can be understood through the other methods as well. The Thero points out that the causes which condition arising of the four elements & arising of five aggregates, for instance, are the same. These causes as identified by Buddha are ignorance (avidya) Deeds (Kamma) Craving (tanha), Neutriments (ahara) and not knowing these four ( having no knowledge of Nibbanti lakshana). In the absence of these five causes the four elements (or five aggregates) cease to exist[3]. The one who comprehends this dhamma is known as the one who is endowed with the right view (Ditti Sampanna). However, mere understanding of these occurrences is limited to the understanding of the text only and not gaining the required wisdom. The right way is to deliver the message of emancipation accurately & precisely as it is to the king in terms of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non self that invoke deliverance of being free from impressions - signless (animitta cheto vimukti), not having anything substantial that we can long to - desireless (appanihita cheto vimukti) & free from notions of self or sentient – emptiness (sunnata cheto vimukti).

The Simile of the Chair

Ven. Sudassana Thero refers to a simile of a chair that is formed by four elements and conditioned by ignorance, kamma craving & nutrients. A carpenter decides to make a chair of a unique design that does not exist anywhere. First he conceives a design in his mind, a mental image of the chair he wants to create with components such as four legs, the back rest and decorative elements to his preference. This mental image is a kamma formation (Sanskara) and this process is referred to as conceiving a form for formation in the Buddhist cannon[4] , says Ven. Sudassana.

The carpenter’s concept for the chair he intends to make (mental image-Sankara) is conditioned by ignorance (delusion)[5]. With his desire (or craving) to make the chair and own it, he goes into the forest & cut a suitable tree that is formed by the four great elements. He would cut a log and saw it into different sections to fabricate the chair as per his mental image. He would keep shaping the timber by planning & carving until he is satisfied with the outcome. In other words he arranges the four great elements in space, consistent with the design of the chair he conceived in his mind. The final product, the chair is conditioned by ignorance, kamma, craving and nutrients (four great elements). Now when the carpenter sees the completed chair he recalls the mental image he originally conceived and therefore overlooks the actual causes that conditioned that outcome, i.e. Ignorence, Kamma Craving, Nutriments and not knowing that causality (nibbanti lakshana). He simply disregards that the chair is a formation of four great elements.

Silkworm and the Cocoon

This is a tragedy similar to that a silkworm undergoes, says Ven. Sudassana. The silkworm spins a cocoon to shield itself until it grows into a Moth. People remove these cocoons from mulberry trees and dip them in boiling water to extract the fiber (from the cocoon) which comes out as one continuous strand of silk. The silkworm meets the unexpected death due to the cocoon it creates by itself. Similarly we undergo suffering due to formation (Sankara) that we create ourselves[6]. The state of formation is also known as Ayohana Sankara as we keep building up on our formations adding further detail.

What the carpenter has created is formation of four great elements in the space (air element) as conditioned by ignorance, kamma & craving. However, due to his delusion he begins to consider the four great elements in front of him (what he formed & fabricated) as a chair. The mental image he conceived is projected on the formation of four great elements to know it as a chair due to his delusion and therefore the final product can now deceive the others too. When the object composed of the four great elements gets deformed or damaged due to some reason the carpenter thinks the chair is broken or damaged.

This is a metaphor that the Venerable Thero uses to explain how we form the notion of mother for e.g. & strengthens the resultant bond by continuing to build on that (ayohana sankara). Owing to the love and attachment we have towards mother we like to see her as often as we can. When we see a formation or a shape where four elements are grouped similar to the shape we have conceived as mother, that mental image awakens in our mind and we overlook the fact that it is a formation of four elements. For instance, instead of seeing the element of hardness (Patavi) in the figure, we see mother’s hair and mother’s teeth etc. & we attribute everything that belongs to the mother (in the mental image) to the four elements formed in space.  Due to our defilements we see mother in the formation of four elements. When these four elements change we suffer due to decay of our mother and eventually due to the death of our mother. Once we comprehend the truth as it is (the reality) we will not be deceived anymore and hence be free from suffering.

When we close our eyes, though there is no eye, an object or eye consciousness, we can visualise ‘me’ myself. That is the impression we carry of our imagination formed due to ignorance (it is Sankara) which we keep grooming with craving. Our body develops & shapes according to the way we conceive the notion of ‘me’. We see ‘me’ only as we formed and not as a body composed of four elements.[7] The one who is endowed with the right view (ditti sampanna), or a stream winner does not see self, permanence, satisfactoriness or wholesomeness etc. in conditioned phenomena and hence is free from suffering being not deluded.

As long as there is greed, ill will & delusion we retain impressions of objects (nimithi anu nimithi) of self (person, sentient) & pleasurable things. The impressions stimulate our senses and thus we see people & things around us. Only the minds that are polluted with greed, hatred & delusion associate four elements. The one who sees arising ceasing nature of aggregates sees the emptiness & will not retain impressions thereby abandoning the defilements of greed hatred and delusion.

Getting back to the simile of the fortress with six gates, the message that needs to be delivered to the king is the truth of four elements and not distorted notions such as self-view. This is a profound dhamma that one needs to see with insight and hence cannot be comprehended by the unwise. The Path leads to deliverance (ceto vimukti) that is threefold as described above which is not gaining enlightenment but are the doorways to reach enlightenment.

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[1] Flame of the Forest  is a tropical tree which is also called Kinshuk (Sanskrit) or Kaala in Sinhala

[2] an area of virgin or secondary timberland in a dry tropical region cleared and cultivated

[3] these amount to 50 qualities 25 (5X5) for arising and 25 for ceasing explained in dhamma as sama panas lakshana

[4] Rupan Rupattaya Sakathan Abhisankaranthothi Sankaran

[5] As expressed in the doctrine of Dependent Origination, Formation is conditioned by ignorance.

[6] The formation (Sankara) is related to the plight of a silkworm in Buddhist scripts.

[7] Consciousness conditions Name Matter and Name matter conditions six sense bases.

Mindfulness and the Simile of the Six Animals

Chappanaka Sutra (SN) beautifully illustrates how the mind is hindered by the struggle of the six senses as it is dragged in different directions by the different sense stimuli.

Here the Buddha draws our attention to a simile of six animals having different habits and diverse fields of action tied together in by six ropes. The six animals are a crocodile, a fox, a dog, a bird, a monkey and a snake, a piece of rope is tied to the tail of each of these six animals and the other ends of those ropes are tied together in one knot and the animals are let free. What happens next is simply chaos, the crocodile tries to run to the water, the bird tries to fly in the air, the dog tries to run to a village, the fox tries to flee to a cemetery, the monkey tries to go to the forest, and the snake tries to creep into an anthill. Each animal tries to drag all the other animals to each one’s respective habitat. The animal which becomes stronger at a given time succeeds in moving towards the place it wants to go dragging the others but only until another animal becomes stronger and pull everyone else to where it wants to go.

Now let’s assume that one takes the knotted end of the ropes that binds the animals together and tie them to a post fixed to the ground. As before each animal will still try to go towards its respective habitat but even the strongest one will not succeed now as they all are tied on to a post that is fixed to the ground. After making many attempts the animals will get exhausted and eventually will give up and lie down on the ground.

The Buddha has said, the six senses are constantly seeking gratification in their own spheres like the animals whose tails are tied together but still free to move. In addition the sense that takes the lead usually directs the other senses to follow, in experiencing the objects it encounters like in the case of the animals being dragged by the stronger one. However, as the six animals get restrained when their tails  are tied to the post on ground, Mindfulness meditation helps one to restrain the six senses.

KAMMA, ITS ENDING & PATH LEADING TO ITS ENDING

We need to know what kamma[1] is in order to end it. The Buddha has preached,

kammana waththathi loko - kammana waththathi paja
kamma nibandanaa saththa - rathassa'neeva yayathe

The world exists due to kamma and the worldly beings exist due to kamma. Beings that are caught up in kamma, exist in the world just as a cart keeps moving supported by its wheels.

Cart is in motion as long as the linchpin holds its wheel in place and likewise beings continue in Samsara as long as they are entrapped by kamma. If the linchpin is removed the cart that carries birth, decay & death cannot move anymore and similarly when one discards kamma his (or her) Samsaric journey ends there freeing the person from suffering due to birth, decay & death..

Teachings further define kamma as old kamma & new Kamma.

Addressing his disciples one day, the Buddha announced, ‘Bhikshus, I will teach you new and old karma, the ending of karma, and the way to the ending of karma. Listen, pay close attention to it, I will speak.’

And what, bhikshus, is old karma?

The eye, bhikshus, is to be regarded as old karma, put together, thought out, something to be felt.

The ear, bhikshus, is to be regarded as old karma, put together, thought out, something to be felt.

The nose, bhikshus, is to be regarded as old karma, put together, thought out, something to be felt.

The tongue, bhikshus, is to be regarded as old karma, put together, thought out, something to be felt.

The body, bhikshus, is to be regarded as old karma, put together, thought out, something to be felt.

The mind, bhikshus, is to be regarded as old karma, put together, thought out, something to be felt. —This, bhikshus, is called old karma.

And what, bhikshus, is new karma?

Whatever deed, bhikshus, one does now through the body, through speech, through the mind—this, bhikshus, is called new karma.[2]

Let us examine what is referred to as old kamma

The eye is to be regarded as old kamma put together (or rooted on) by volition as an object for feeling. The eye creates eye consciousness when met with an external object causing contact that lead to a sense experience. The visual experience ends as soon as it arises and hence Buddha preached to Bahiya,’in the seen will be merely what is seen’.[3]

This is similar to what a toddler in a cradle experiences looking at the colourful mobile hanging above him. He (or she) only sees a trace of a visible form and is unable to differentiate the colour variations, say as red, blue etc., like an adult does. An adult's experience is identical to that of the toddler seeing a trace of an object created by the eye. The resultant contact leading to sensation makes the adult to think upon it & form opinion about what is seen which occur at mind consciousness level. The two occurrences take place in isolation of each other but we combine them together due to delusion (or ignorance) letting the latter (our conceptions) to land on the former (contact bases).

Consider two banks of a river. A person walking on one bank sees an attractive object or a scenery on the other bank & begins to think upon it but he cannot have any interaction with that object other than the visual experience, ‘What is seen is merely what is seen.’ Whatever action that results from his thinking upon what he sees, whether its verbal, physical or mental remains on this bank and has no connection to the object on the other bank. The person could get attached to the object mentally but not physically.

‘The visual experience is old kamma and the person’s response to it from this side of the river is new kamma’ says Ven Sudassana.

If the two occurrences are considered to be linked, what occur on one bank persist due to that which occur on the other bank. In other words, our responses in form of mental, verbal or bodily action are retained due to what’s seen on the other bank or we can say what is seen there continue to exist due to our responses that occur on this side of the river. The occurrences that take place on the opposite bank arise and cease on the same side while those that arise on this side arise and cease on this bank. One cannot see the two occurrences apart as delusions come into play. In other words if one believes that the responses he makes on this side of the bank bears upon the object on the opposite bank that’s due to his delusion.

Sense experiences create Name-Matter (Name & Form) as a result of sense contact as sensation, perception & formation. Our responses through mind, speech & bodily action on the above, forms our consciousness. Name-Matter belongs to the bank on the opposite side of the river and our responses belong to the bank on this side. 

As we let our consciousness to position on the Name-Matter, i.e. either on form, sensation, perception or formation, conditioned by delusion, we gather kamma. The two in this context are said to be interdependent Name-Matter conditioning Consciousness & visa versa. If we can discard delusion we can comprehend the two states apart and thus we will not gather (new) kamma.

The Buddha continues,

And what, bhikshus, is the ending of karma? When, bhikshus, one reaches liberation with the ending of these deeds of the body, of speech, and of the mind—this, bhikshus, is called the ending of karma.

This in other words is ending deeds or kamma made through mind, speech and bodily action, in such away the three states of liberation is accomplished.  The teachings refer to three forms of liberation as Animitta (signless), Appanihita (desireless), Sunnata (emptiness). When we know that the two, i.e, sense experience & our deeds, occur in isolation of each other and our responses in form of thoughts, speech & bodily action has no connection to the external object we do not leave impressions (animitta), we do not have anything substantial that we can long to (appanihitta) & we do not see self or see as sentient or person (sunnata).

The path to end kamma is the Noble eight fold path with the Right View as the forerunner in perfecting the above wisdom, as declared by the Buddha in the Sutra,

And what, bhikshus, is called the path leading to the ending of karma? It is this noble eightfold path, that is, right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. —This, bhikshus, is the path leading to the ending of karma.

In essence the Sutra (Discourse on (New-Old ) Kamma) is a restatement of the four Noble Truths in terms of Kamma, Old Kamma is Suffering & New Kamma is Cause for Suffering. Cessation of Suffering is the Ending of Kamma & the Path to Cessation of Suffering is the Path Leading to Ending of Kamma.

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[1] Also known as Karma in Sanskrit, meaning Deeds in English

[2] The Discourse on (New and Old) Karma , (Nava- Purana) Kamma Sutra (SN)- Translation by Piya Tan 2003

[3] ’in the seen will be merely what is seen; in the heard will be merely what is heard; in the sensed will be merely what is sensed; in the cognised will be merely what is cognised.’ – Bahiya Sutra

Path to Purification & Happiness, the only way

Worldly beings are constantly searching for happiness, however, is their anyone who is enjoying lasting happiness?, the problem seems to be that we do not identify what happiness is to go in search for it and we do not see what unhappiness is to make an effort to keep away from it, we do not have a realistic aim either way.

A hungry fox wondering about, looking for food, sees a tree with chunks of red meat hanging from it. Delighted with what it saw the fox runs towards the tree for a good feast. When the fox gets closer it sees meat fallen on the ground as well and quickly bite into one, well its not meat , then it sees few pieces falling from the tree and have a go at one, again its not meat. The fox has actually been deceived by a coral tree that is in full bloom. However, still hungry and eager, it keeps staring at the remaining red coral flowers up on the tree hoping that they are meat.

We all have expectations to achieve certain goals to become happy but when we reach those goals the anticipated happiness is not there anymore. The above parable relates to how we overlook the reality in search of happiness & to keep away from unhappiness, how we have been deceived in the past (like the fox grabbing the flowers under the tree) and present (the fox catching the flowers falling from the tree). As the fox continue to be deceived, thinking that the flowers on the tree are meat, we have hope that we can gain happiness in the near future. We continue to seek material comforts, to gather possessions and form relationships, to be free from unhappiness and be happy as we have done in the past and aim for the same in the present & future but all what we could gain more and more is unhappiness. Buddha Dhamma shows the path to be free from unhappiness and gain eternal happiness.

MINDFULNESS

The Enlightened ones emerge in this world to recognise the cause for the misery we are in and to free us from this deception. The Buddha has said that the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is the only way to purification & to be free from grief, lamentation, sorrow (Dukkha) & thereby to reach states of enlightenment & emancipation (eternal happiness). He has said. ‘there is only one way bhikkus to the purification of beings to overcome sorrow and sadness to the disappearance of pain and suffering to attain the right path to realize nibbana and that is the four foundations of mindfulness.[1]

Just by offering one meal to a person who lives up to 100 years, can one make him  happy all his life?, similarly just as one experiences happiness in this life  there is no assurance that he (or she) will be able to experience happiness in future existences.

Having understood the short lived happiness, there were kings who left Royalty and the rich who left all their wealth to gain eternal happiness. Mindfulness helps to discard unhappiness and to gain absolute happiness. If one is not able to understand the Four Foundations of Mindfulness correctly and practice accordingly he or she cannot pursue the Noble Eightfold Path effectively and that means the person cannot become enlightened. Therefore, we need to comprehend the Four Foundations of Mindfulness correctly.

The Hunter & the Monkey Trap

A Monkey hunter sets up a trap, a small doll made out of glue, to catch monkeys. An eager monkey tries to touch it with its hand and the hand gets stuck on the glue, he tries with the other hand and that also get stuck. Thereafter, he uses a leg to release himself but that gets stuck and similarly the other leg too. Finally the monkey uses its head but again to no avail and thus it gets trapped on all five points of the body and now the hunter can do anything to the helpless monkey. Meanwhile the wise monkeys avoid the trap & move elsewhere sensing the danger and hence the hunter can’t see them, catch them or do any harm to them.

Similar to the eager monkey, beings of the sensual world who are caught up with the five senses and deceived by things of pleasure, tread in the territory of Mara[2] and get stuck in his traps and thus the Mara can do any harm to them. However, the man with wisdom will not get caught up with things of pleasure and cleverly avoids the traps set up by Mara. Those who practice the Four Foundations of Mindfulness are not exposed to Mara. The Mara can’t see them but they can see Mara. It is known as living while observing the body as it is, the sensations as it is, the mind as it is and the perceptions & formations as they are.

To practice it precisely we need to understand the noble Right View. We see, hear, smell etc. through senses as Name-Matter (fruits of old kamma or vipaka). This state is similar to what a little child sees without any descriptions. Our thoughts, speech and bodily action upon those Name-Matter becomes our consciousness. If we tie our consciousness to the corresponding object, or form, it positions itself on the object. In other words when we tie our consciousness to those that we see hear etc. the consciousness positions on those objects. This phenomenon is called viinnana thithi in the Buddhist canon.

Furthermore, if we tie consciousness to a feeling from an external object the consciousness will take position on that feeling. Similarly if we tie it to the perception i.e. shape & outline of what is seen, it will occupy the perception associating the external object, visual, audible etc.

In summary, if we tie what we think, speak and act about a sense experience, to the object (Matter) or associated sensations & perceptions (Name) the consciousness will position on name-matter, if the consciousness does not take position on those it is considered as not ‘positioned’ & hence we will not gather kamma therefore freeing us from the three existences. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness detail the methodology to achieve this.

MINDFULNESS OF THE BODY

If we allow kamma consciousness arising from our notion as a person to position on the object such positioning makes that object a person. Our notions in such instances are said to be underpinned by our grasping & clinging (as person) & the resultant thoughts that are tainted get projected onto the external aggregates making them appear real. As they are susceptible to clinging in this manner the aggregates are known as clinging aggregates & hence as 'suffering'.[3]

Our effort must be to prevent the positioning of consciousness on the object (matter) or the related sensation, perception & formation (name). Mindfulness of the body (Kayagata-sathi) helps to arrest our notion of person projecting on an external object.

In the previous example of the brick wall & painting it was noted that neither the brick wall nor the painting are self. The person applies paint on the wall according to his ideas. The perception we develop that it is a person is due to our fermentations. Our responses to that notion (as a person) conditions arising of kamma consciousness. When we tie our mental concepts to the painting we ignore the wall that is made of brick & mortar. When our consciousness lands on the painting we begin to think of it as a person. We continue to feel the same even when we move away from the object.

The Sutra highlights, mindfulness with clear comprehension of what is seen heard etc. When thoughts arise in the mind, if we are mindful with clear comprehension, we can witness the truth as positioning of the consciousness on the form gets arrested. When we keep on contemplating this way, brick and mortar come into focus & hence we begin to see the reality without much effort and eventually we get to a point where our thought speech and bodily action will not associate the object at any time. That’s when we can say that we have liberated from form and that there is no more gathering of kamma.

If we let our responses to associate the external object it becomes memory. If we do note tie our thoughts, speech & bodily action (consciousness) to the external object those won’t be retained in our memory. Through mindfulness we prevent such positioning of consciousness, with the shield of wisdom.

GATHERING OF KAMMA

We gather kamma only if we connect our consciousness to the object, or associated feelings, perceptions and formations. Mindfulness of the body protects our thoughts from positioning on the object. It discloses that what exist out there are only four great elements (Mahabutha)and those forms that associate four great elements (Upadaya rupa).

Whatever the artist draw on the wall whether it’s a car or a bus will be seen in accordance to our notion of what it looks like. If one finds things externally that’s a sign that thoughts that have arisen in his or her mind are projected on those objects. If things are seen as they really are kamma will not get accumulated.

Tathagata assures complete emancipation if mindfulness is practiced correctly. One need not worry even if he or she doesn’t know how to peruse Four Roads of Power (Sathara Irdipada), Factors of Enlightenment (Saptha Bojjanga) etc. Mindfulness takes one through all the above and respective states of enlightenment on its way to discard suffering & to reach emancipation.

Without knowing what mindfulness is and how it works, even if we practice for a number of years, its not beneficial. We cannot observe mindfulness on formations which are already formed with defilements. The purpose of mindfulness meditation is to eliminate defilements. Where hair, nails, skin, flesh etc. are grouped in a particular manner, say as Nimal, and experience similarly when we see his image in a newspaper or a video. This is awakening of thoughts in our mind with the notion of self or a person. As long as we behold as Nimal - a self, the truth (the body composed of hair, skin, flesh etc.) disappears due to positioning of consciousness on the form. Mindfulness reveals form as non-self and prevents it being positioned by consciousness. As we continue, the tendency that make us perceive as a self, fades away and as a result fermentations & hindrances disappear enabling us to comprehend the four noble truths.

We also need to focus on the notion of me[4], considering that my picture is painted on the wall, for instance, if I touch my face I feel the wall. If I let the thought it is ‘me’ to position on the painting I will behold that way. If so I will be able to identify ‘me’ even when I see a picture of me in a newspaper or a video. Mindfulness of body thwarts it and using the technique we can prevent our thoughts taking position on the body. We need to meditate to comprehend that the thought ‘me’ is a one that arises in the mind where a bundle of aggregates i.e, hair, skin, flesh etc. are present.

The following dialogue between the Buddha & his disciples well illustrates this dhamma,
"Just as if there were a roofed house or a roofed hall having windows on the north, the south, or the east. When the sun rises, and a ray has entered by way of the window on the east, where does it land?"

"On the western wall, lord."
"And if there is no western wall, where does it land?"
"On the ground, lord."
"And if there is no ground, where does it land?"
"On the water, lord." "And if there is no water, where does it land?"
"It does not land, lord."
"In the same way, where there is no passion for the nutriment of physical food ... contact ... intellectual intention ... consciousness, where there is no delight, no craving, then consciousness does not land there or grow. Where consciousness does not land or grow, name-&-form does not alight. Where name-&-form does not alight, there is no growth of fabrications. Where there is no growth of fabrications, there is no production of renewed becoming in the future. Where there is no production of renewed becoming in the future, there is no future birth, aging, & death. That, I tell you, has no sorrow, affliction, or despair."

(Atthi Raga Sutra- Samyutta Nikaya)

MINDFULNESS OF SENSATION

Sensations that are pleasant, unpleasant or neither pleasant nor unpleasant are to be recognised as those which relate to sense desires (kama) or desirelessness (nekkhamma). It is also to be noted the eleven states where sensations arise, i.e. sensations that are past or present, far or close, pleasant or inferior, gross or fine etc. similar to the eleven states the form is represented with. Sensations are also categorised according to those that arise in the body & the mind, for instance, pleasant sensations are identified as sukha vedana (body) & somanassa (mind) and unpleasant sensations as dukkha vedana (body) & domansassa (mind). Neutral sensations arising in both the body & mind are commonly known as neither pleasant nor unpleasant (adukkhamasuka vedana).

Mindfulness of sensations helps to avert interpretation of internal sensations as those that belong to external objects. It is about not letting the consciousness to take position on sensations, associating them with objects that are seen or heard. Sensations do not vary in accordance with different types of objects, visible audible etc., they are generally felt as pleasant, unpleasant or neither pleasant nor unpleasant. We must not let our thoughts on sensations to associate external objects, alternatively we must observe that they just arise due to contact & cease thereafter.

Mindfulness on sensations with clear comprehension discloses the conditionality of sensations, as those that arise due to conditions & cease when the conditions cease to exist. Thereby we can ascertain that sensations are not created by me or an external force and that they are not spontaneous either but arise due to conditions. It should particularly be reminded that a product formed due to conditions does not belong to the conditions, such as a shadow of a tree appearing on ground does not belong to the tree, ground or the sunlight.

Similar to the earlier discussion about thoughts having no linkage to external form, sensations felt in our mind should not be noted as hand pain, leg pain etc. Sensations are felt  to be arising in hand or leg as we tend to grasp them as experiences a person (or self) undergoes and therefore our responses on them are natural. If we can contemplate on this delusion & comprehend that there is no interconnection we can be free of hand pains, leg pains etc. and eventually from the notion of legs & arms of a person that seem to exist.

When our body touches somebody else’s body can we say that we feel the other person? No, we only experience our body sensation due to the contact.

If we get hit by a wooden stick we only feel the body pain not the wood, similarly we feel a sensation due to contact, when we touch a person we only feel our body but not somebody else’s. If we let our consciousness to position on sensations associating external objects its inevitable that we feel sensations from visible objects, sound, smell etc. that are external.

To understand how we develop stress due to errors in our perception as discussed, consider your foot being trampled by a rock, you will bear the pain and deal with it not worrying about the rock, however, if it was a person who trampled your leg you will instantly react with anger , finding fault with that person. If we can refrain from tying physical sensations to external objects there won’t be any difference in our reaction in both instances noted above and hence we will be free from stress.

SENSUALITY & MIND

The Sensual world is built upon forms. It is made to look real due to projection of erroneous thoughts arising within the mind on external objects & hence it is said, sensuality is a dream (swapnopama kama).

We are not born into a world that exists. Buddhist teachings refer to forms, visible, audible etc. as attributes of Sensuality (kama), not just sensuality as we associate. The reality is that the world only consists of four great elements & those forms that associate four great elements. We formulate sensuality on elementary things that exist out there with our thoughts and desires.

As said before we can paint different objects such as cars, buildings etc. on the wall and they just remain as art created by brush strokes on the wall until our thoughts are projected on them to make them real and similarly we create a world that consists of things & people in our mind. The sensual world conceals reality of form but mindfulness reveals this hidden reality by exposing the elementary state made of four great elements and those forms that associate them e.g. wall and the painting, overriding sensuality.

However, in this endeavour we must not contemplate on the impressions that arise in the mind but rather concentrate on respective objects that seem to exist in the external to address the cause for becoming (bhava). Things that arise in our mind often relate to external form due to our notions that things that we have seen, heard or smelt etc. exist out there. When something arises in mind it always associates external form which is the notion of existence. Mindfulness of the Body discloses the truth and eliminates our deception caused by positioning of consciousness on external form.

PROFOUND PHYLOSOPHY

“If one can paint a mural covering this wall in front of us, we will see a mural but if we touch we will only feel the wall. We don’t see what we feel & don’t feel what we see. If we push the wall over to fall flat on ground and walk on it we don’t see where we walk and we don’t walk on what we see. If we practice to meditate in that manner we will not have any impression of where we go or to where we return to”, says Ven. Sudassana thero.

Imagine that the whole world is like the wall painted with pictures of buildings, roads, trees etc. We have never seen where we walked and we haven’t walked on what we see. If one can relate to where he (or she) goes to (gathi) and return to (agathi) the person is said to be associating death & rebirth. As long as we see on which we walk on and walk on what we see, we are said to be dealing with birth, decay and death or suffering (Dukkha). This is how the notion of continuity (Santhathi) prevails.

If one can overcome this habit of claiming I went to that place (gathi), I arrived at this place (agathi), the person is able to reach a state that is peaceful and calm. Buddha Dhamma takes one who practices in this manner to an incredible & spectacular state though understanding such deep concepts of teachings is not simple. However, one only needs to begin by taking one step forward i.e. starting with mindfulness of the body.

If one is to reach the depth of the ocean, he or she always has to start from a point where the water is only ankle high & as the person keeps walking the sea will get deeper and deeper, likewise the path needs to be followed step by step in order to reach the depth of realisation.

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[1] Eka Yano Ayam Bikkhave Maggo Sattanam Visuddhiya Soka Paridevanam Samatikkamaya Dukkha Domanassanam Atthangamaya Nayassa Adhigamaya Nayassa Adhigamaya Nibbanassa Sacchikiriyaya Yadidam Cattaro Satipattahana`ti- Maha Sathipatthana Sutra

[2] Early Buddhism acknowledged both a literal and psychological interpretation of Mara. Specially Mara is described both as an entity having an existence in sensual world, just as are shown existing around the Buddha, and also is described in paticcasamuppada as, primarily, the guardian of passion and the catalyst for lust, hesitation and fear that obstructs meditation among Buddhists.

[3] The Buddha referred to the Five Clinging Aggregates as Suffering- Dhamma Chakka Pawattana Sutra

[4] ‘ajjhattaṃ vā dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati, bahiddhā vā dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati’